OPTIMO has won the prestigious contract to supply its Enterprise Booking Software Solution to the Sepang International Circuit despite fierce competition from the USA.

In 2013, the UK-based boutique software house attended a fully subsidised UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) business mission to Malaysia where the company presented its credentials to the international race circuit. As a result, the company won the lucrative business contract worth a six-figure sum.

OPTIMO Chief Solutions Officer Deen Ossman says:

UKTI has been pivotal to our success and always very supportive. Through their sponsored events we have made some fantastic connections and signed up with a number of events and venues including the Sepang International Circuit.

Company strategy

OPTIMO delivers an in-house or a cloud based platform to manage and support a venue’s or event’s customer relationship management (CRM), ticketing and booking requirements under a single bespoke software solution.

Although the company is relatively young and a small-medium enterprise, it already has some of the world’s biggest venues and events in its portfolio including the FIFA World Cup, the London Olympics, Silverstone, YAS Marina and Meydan - which hosts the world’s richest horse racing events.

Ossman says:

Our focus is on easing the burden of running a business, maximising our clients revenue generation opportunities and creating incomparable customer experiences for our clients’ customers. We offer an innovative, cutting-edge software solution with built-in best practices and our track record of fantastic sales results speaks for itself.

Its software provides a simple, affordable and user-friendly integrated CRM solution to market, sell and manage tickets; conference and banqueting; driving experiences; and venue and space hire. It provides accountability, visibility and control. The software can be operated from tablets and smart phones and can support multiple sales channels such as online, box office and a corporate sales team.

The software’s functions include a central resource diary with real-time checking to guarantee no double bookings, relevant approvals at a click of a button with simple but complete workflow approval, calculation of venue utilisation and margins per deal, tracking of complementary bookings, production of e-tickets and automated creation of function and run sheets, seating charts and table plans.

Malaysia: a growth market

The company’s first Malaysian client - Sepang International Circuit, is a semi-governmental subsidised organisation. The circuit hosts some of Asia’s most exciting world-class motorsport events, including Malaysia’s Formula 1, the Malaysian Super Series, Sepang Drag Battle and the international MotoGP.

The circuit is also a venue for conference, banqueting and hospitality services. The new management team is aiming to make the circuit financially independent and chose OPTIMO’s software solutions to optimise the business and help make the circuit financially sustainable.

Ossman feels that Malaysia has proved itself to be a forward-thinking country. He says:

The country has invested heavily in making the country a destination for business and entertainment. The Malaysian business environment is very good and local companies are ready to engage with foreign investors. It was therefore a natural choice for us to target the Malaysian market. Winning Sepang International Circuit as our first Malaysian client puts us in a really good position to win other clients and we are confident our business in Malaysia will grow.

Future business plans

Just over a third of OPTIMO’s business is currently generated from overseas markets, mainly in the USA, Belgium, Singapore, Middle East and Australasia. The company is dedicated to continuing to grow its overseas business and aims to be the No. 1 CRM, ticketing and booking software provider of choice in the Middle East and Asia.

Ossman comments on the company’s plans in Southeast Asia:

We believe the business potential for us in Southeast Asia is very good. This is because the country’s economies in the region are growing and the middle class is expanding and becoming richer. Meanwhile governments are developing major events and venues to get their countries on the world map as well as to cater for their citizens’ increased leisure time and disposable income. This provides plenty of new business development opportunities.